TIMERGARA: Special Assistant to Chief Minister on Anti-Corruption Malik Shafiullah Khan said on Sunday that Chief Minister Mahmood Khan was keenly interested in development of Lower Dir district.
Speaking at a media briefing in Timergara Press Club, Malik Shafiullah said the chief minister had released Rs700 million for beautification of Timergara city, besides Rs368 million for Talash bypass, which would address traffic related issues in Chakdara.
Malik Shafiullah said the current provincial government had already released Rs150 million for construction of a sports complex in Lower Dir but due to non-availability of the land, work on the project was yet to be started.
“Under another project, clean-drinking water would be provided to the residents living on the banks of River Panjkora in Timergara and its suburban areas with a cost of Rs700 million,” he added.
He rejected allegations levelled against him by a former provincial minister Nawabzada Mehmood Zeb Khan that the minister was asserting pressure on the district administration regarding construction of the Rescue 1122 office on a land, the ownership of which was claimed by Mehmood Zeb Khan.
“I was shocked to hear the former minister levelling baseless allegations against me in connection with construction of the Rescue 1122 office,” Shafiullah Khan said and added that he had never specified a certain piece of land to the administration for construction of the rescue office rather he had been telling the Lower Dir administration to start work on the project as soon as possible in the larger interest of the public.
The former provincial minister and PPP Lower Dir president Nawabzada Mehmood Zeb Khan twice stopped construction work on the Rescue 1122 office at Timergara by force while claiming ownership of the said land. The chief minister had laid the foundation stone for the Rescue 1122 office in 2019 on the site.